"I think religion has always tried to turn hatred toward gay people," John said in the Observer's Music Monthly Magazine. "Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays."

John, who exchanged vows in December in a civil-union ceremony with David Furnish, acknowledged he knows many people "who are gay and love their religion," but he added: "From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings, and it's not really compassionate."